The Carolina Hurricanes officially extended Jesperi Kotkaniemi on Monday to an extension keeping him with the Hurricanes through the 2029-30 season, a remarkably long stretch of time.
The Canes made a few moves on trade deadline day, adding Max Domi and Tyler Inamoto was one thing, but in my mind, the Kotkaniemi extension was the big news of the day.
The Carolina Hurricanes extended Jesperi Kotkaniemi for eight years at 4.82 million a season, this after they offer sheeted him for 6.1 million a year to take him from the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canes might have paid a high price for Kotkaniemi, but he is still 21 and has all the potential to play into this big contract.
Kotkaniemi shared a few insights into the extension with the media yesterday after the announcement of the extension with the Hurricanes:
Kotkaniemi, chatting with the media for the first time since yesterday’s announcement of his eight-year extension, says a big reason he likes Raleigh is because it reminds him of his hometown in Finland.
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) March 22, 2022
Also said that the long-term deal allows him to “have a little peace” now.
The Hurricanes have always been smart with their money. This deal reminds me of the Teuvo Teravainen contract the Hurricanes signed after acquiring him from Chicago some five years ago. They signed him to a five-year contract in January of 2019 for a deal that is just 5.4 million a year.
Spreading the wealth in the top six and trying to get players on good contracts is the only way teams are going to have playoff success, and the Hurricanes have done a great job doing that.
Now the core of this team is made up of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Teuvo Teravainen all of whom are still under the age of 28 and are signed for multiple years.
Kotkaniemi has put up 11 goals and 12 assists this season with the Hurricanes, through 60 games he is averaging 11:57 of ice time a night and has won 51.8 percent of his faceoffs. The young Hurricane has great numbers analytically speaking with a Corsi percentage of 59.9 percent on the season.
Kotkaniemi is still only 21 years old. The former third overall pick of 2018 has a lot of time to grow into a top-tier player in this league. While he might not be there yet, the Hurricanes are sure to have him on a great contract when he does, and for the current moment, he will get to experience a playoff run with one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.